The locative suffix -ni:
In this article we discuss two hypotheses about the origin of the locative suffix -ni. The better known hypothesis (Raum 1909; Meinhof 1941/42) assumes that the suffix -(i)ni developed out of a class 18 demonstrative, though the details of the assumed phonological changes have never been made clear. The competing hypothesis by Sacleux (1939) suggests that locative nouns with -ni started out as compounds with the noun ini `liver´. We think that this second hypothesis is phonologically more plausible and that it also accounts for the specific link with the meaning of class 18 `inside´. Comparison of the spread of the locative suffix -(i)ni and of the word ini `liver´, together with other historical considerations, point to Kiswahili (or Sabaki) as the most likely origin of this locative suffix.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa.de:bsz:15-qucosa-98020 |
| Date | 30 November 2012 |
| Creators | Schadeberg, Thilo C., Samsom, Ridder |
| Contributors | University of Leiden, Humanities, Universität zu Köln, Institut für Afrikanistik |
| Publisher | Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | Swahili (individual language) |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | doc-type:article |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Swahili Forum; 1(1994), S. 127-138 |
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